Reprint royalties
Sir: It is not the Society of Authors' practice to discuss in public its confidential advice to members; but as the following matter appears to have been exposed at the instance of the member concerned, it is necessary to explain the circumstances.
In his account (December 2), of Mr Warren Tute's experience with J. M. Dent over the re-publication of Mr Tute's novel The Rock,
Bookbuyer ' says that the Society appears to see "little wrong in the principle of an established author being published without payment." This is absurd. Mr Tute, who is indeed an established author, himself agreed terms for the reprint with his publishers. He only consulted the Society afterwards when the venture had proved unexpectedly successful. At that stage the Society could not say that the publisher had "behaved unfairly" in standing by the terms originally agreed. This, however, in no way implies that the Society approved of those terms.
Philippa Macleish Secretary, the Society of Authors, 54 Drayton Gardens, London SWIO
Previous page
